Stadium construction financing: If you fund it ...

Construction financing for stadiums in Detroit has been a mix of public and private money — or both — since the Detroit Tigers built Navin Field (which later became Tiger Stadium) in 1912 for $300,000. The team sold the stadium to the city for $1 in 1978. Detroit paid $400,000 to raze it in 2009.

Detroit itself got into the stadium business when it built Olympia Stadium for the Detroit Red Wings for $2.5 million in 1927.

Stadium projects using both public and private money became common nationwide by the 1990s, and Comerica Park and Ford Field were financed that way. The third Red Wings arena will be as well.

Financial data on Comerica Park and Ford Field are vexing. The original team construction contracts don't reflect subsequent changes. The teams don't discuss their private financing. Public agencies said conflicting things.

Below are the best numbers available, based on published data and documents from public agencies and limited information from the teams:

Comerica Park

NATHAN SKID/CDB

Cost: $326 million

Team: Detroit Tigers

Seats: 41,681

Opened: 2000

Owner: Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority

Naming rights: Dallas-based Comerica Bank is paying the team $2.2 million a year until 2028 as part of a 30-year, $66 million deal inked in 1998.

Maintenance: Funded by annual deposits of $300,000 from the Tigers and $250,000 from the DDA

Lease: 35 years. Six 10-year options.

Rent: The Tigers pay $1 a year for the 35-year lease, then $1 million annually for each of the six 10-year lease extension options exercised.

Ford Field

NATHAN SKID/CDB

Cost: $500 million

Team: Detroit Lions

Seats: 64,500

Opened: 2002

Owner: Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority

Naming rights: Ford Motor Co. paid the team $50 million in three lump sums in 2002 for 25-year rights. The automaker agreed in 2005 to pay another $6.6 million through 2015 to add its name to the stadium roof and elsewhere on the exterior.

How it was funded:

DDA: $70 million

City: $15 million

Stadium authority: $20 million

Wayne County: $20 million

Corporate contributions: $50 million

Lions: $325 million

How it operates:

Revenue: Lions keep all

Maintenance: Funded by a $300,000 annual contribution by the Lions

Lease: 35 years. Six 10-year options.

Rent: $250,000 split between the DDA and Wayne County.

Joe Louis Arena

Joe Louis Arena

Cost: $30.3 million

Team: Detroit Red Wings

Seats: 20,066

Opened: 1979

Owner: Detroit Building Authority/Municipal Parking Department

Naming rights: None

How it was built:

$30.3 million in municipal bonds paid off mostly with federal funds

How it operates:

Red Wings keep all under lease approved in March. Under previous lease, city collected taxes on tickets, concessions and suites sales that generated $2 million and $3 million annually.

Maintenance: Red Wings pay

Lease: Retroactive to 2010 through 2015, signed in March

Rent: Old lease required $25,000 monthly and $252,000 annual use tax. New deal is $1 million annually from 2010 through 2015, minus credit for property taxes. Five one-year options.

New Red Wings Arena

JOHN SULLIVAN

Site of new arena for the Detroit Red Wings

Cost: $450 million

Team: Detroit Red Wings

Seats: 18,000

Opens: 2016

Owner: Detroit Downtown Development Authority

Naming rights: Olympia Development of Michigan retains the right to sell the name.

How it will be built:

$450 million in Michigan Strategic Fund bonds, to be paid off by $262 million from the DDA and $188 million from Olympia, the real estate arm of Wings owners Mike and Marian Ilitch's business holdings

How it will operate:

Revenue: Red Wings keep all

Maintenance: Reserve fund funded by the state bonds

Lease: 35 years. Twelve five-year options.

Rent: $11.5 million concession fee paid to DDA, for bond retirement

Sources: DDA, Detroit-Wayne County Development Authority, Olympia, Crain's research